Super Netball won’t be starting any time soon

Paige Hadley of the Swifts (left) wins the ball over Laura Langman of the Lightning during the Super Netball Grand Final between the Sunshine Coast Lightning and the New South Wales Swifts at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre in Brisbane, Sunday, September 15, 2019. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY

Super Netball won’t be starting any time soon

Super Netball will continue to take a cautious approach to competition, delaying team training until May 31 despite restrictions being eased across the country.

The league announced on Tuesday that with varying approaches of state governments, it would resist rushing players back into the team environment.

Instead all player training and preparation will continue to align with the minimum Level A standard as described in the AIS Framework for Rebooting Sport, where athletes train solo or with another person while maintaining social distancing until the end of the month.

New Zealand announced this week that their domestic competition, which had already completed one round, would restart on June 19. Run over 10 weeks, all competition will be played at one location in Auckland.

Australia's Super Netball CEO Chris Symington said prospects for the 2020 season looked promising but there was still work to do before finalising its format and timeline.

Swifts fans are unlikely to get the chance to cheer on the defending champions this year.

It was announced in March that the competition, due to start May 2, would be delayed until at least June 30.

"With restrictions easing around the country, our hopes of being able to complete a full 2020 season are cautiously rising," Symington said.

"But in order to maintain competitive balance within the league while the finer details of the season are agreed upon, we have advised clubs and athletes to continue solo training for the next two and a half weeks."

The league also told clubs they must factor in any quarantining measures when bringing athletes back to the club from interstate or overseas within the next few weeks.

Netballers are currently doing 12 hours of club-led training per week, as agreed by the league, clubs and the Australian Netball Players' Association, in line with player pay reductions announced in April.